Murthy Murthy me...Things ain't what they used to be...

The U.S. Supreme Court ought to start publishing their rulings on toilet paper.

When they get things right, it's only by accident. Last week, we discussed the court's recent ruling that rightly requires investors in foreign corporations to pay taxes like everyone else, but that was one of very few constitutionally sound decisions they've made lately. Even then, I think they only got it right because they happened to stumble into it. Regarding almost everything else these days, they just completely ignore elementary law that we learned in 7th grade civics class.

Their ruling this week in Murthy v. Missouri is one of the most outrageously bad decisions in the court's history. This case was prompted by the Biden administration colluding with social media sites to censor content such as COVID "misinformation." Much of the "misinformation" that was censored was actually true. The Twitter Files prove this.

It is folly to characterize those who fought the White House on this as "right-wing." If you support government censorship like this, you're not a progressive. Period. This is what right-wing dictatorships do. You expect to see something like this under totalitarian butchers like Emmanuel Macron. You don't expect to see it in a democracy. Yet the whiny nerds at Vox produced a lengthy article attacking judges who opposed this censorship as "right-wing."

That was even after right-wing Justice Amy Coney Barrett wrote the Supreme Court opinion in Murthy v. Missouri that allows this censorship. Vox is siding with some of the most right-wing Justices in history, yet is accusing everyone else of being "right-wing." Vox also laughably claimed that those who opposed the censorship were actually suppressing the White House's free speech rights - not the other way around. Vox also said the First Amendment does not bar the government from asking social media sites to remove content. Yes it does, you idiots.

This ruling came even after every lower court - without exception - ruled against this suppression of free speech.

What's the Supreme Court's "reasoning"? They said it was because those who fought against this censorship lacked standing, but as hard as we try, we cannot follow this contorted line of thinking. In fact, those who were censored were no longer the plaintiffs by the time the case reached the Supremes. The case started out as Missouri v. Biden but was later retitled as Murthy v. Missouri. So the actual plaintiff was Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, who the victims were fighting against. If the case was thrown out, it should have been because Murthy lacked standing to sue those who were censored.

The Supreme Court is a rogue court. There are some issues where the Constitution leaves absolutely no wiggle room. This is one of them. The rights listed in the Bill of Rights were not created by people. They are natural rights. That's what "inalienable rights" means. Every current member of the Supreme Court has at some point recently placed either political alliances or weird legal theories ahead of real law.

But in this constitutional republic, real law takes precedence over the bizarre opinions of a few unelected dictators in black robes. Some things in the Constitution have to be interpreted, but there is no ambiguity that such government collusion with social networking sites violates free speech. Absolutely zero. The Supremes' ruling in Murthy v. Missouri is George W. Bush-level stuff.

Kentucky colleges raise tuition

A market system is full of vagaries and inequalities, but it's the economic model that we've been force-fed for almost everything we do. If you're in a position that you qualify for some program like medical benefits, you'll find that works better than leaving everything up to the market. But market economics are likely the reason you ended up poor enough to qualify.

Along with our commitment to civil liberties, our interest in economic justice is one of the reasons we dissent from COVID tyranny, but that's another topic altogether.

When I started college, I planned to major in broadcasting. Everyone tried to discourage me, saying there wasn't enough of a "market" for broadcasters. My response was always the same: Who cares? A few people even said I shouldn't qualify for any sort of financial aid unless I majored in something "marketable", but that argument is ridiculous on its stupid face.

Market hawks hounded me about my choice for a major. So I should be allowed to hound Kentucky colleges about the all-important "market."

There's a crazy little thing called supply and demand. In this decade, academia has destroyed their own credibility. As a result, colleges and universities all over America - maybe the world - faced a steep drop in enrollment in the early 2020s. They wanted to turn schools into prisons, and lots of our young people just weren't having it. For the most part, the enrollment decline wasn't the students' fault. There were a few students who demanded more fascism, but they came from trust fund backgrounds, and their peers didn't give a shit what they thought. When I was in college, nobody would have put up with it, period.

Demand among students for a college education has dropped. So tuition should become cheaper, right?

Well, welcome to Kentucky. In Kentucky schools, market economics is like the fourth 'R'. But not when schools actually have to follow it themselves. Accordingly, the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education has just increased tuition at most state colleges and universities - despite less demand.

This is one of a series of episodes in recent days that shows that Democratic corruption has gone past the point of no return. We can safely say they're even more corrupt than the Republicans now, even though the GOP is also far from innocent. Unlike 20 years ago when the state was mired in Republican corruption, the Democrats run Kentucky now. This is on you, Dems.

Dear Democrats: Get your corruption out of my state. The North Carolina State Board of Elections would be happy to have you if you want to be corrupt.

Higher education has become a money pit rather than a serious academic institution. It's one of the biggest scams in the country. I'm also sick of their smug attitude and disproportionate amount of power.

Lockdowns are for the birds

My newest Substack entry reports that new lockdowns are already in the works for bird flu:

https://open.substack.com/pub/bandit73/p/lockdowns-are-for-the-birds

Supremes uphold tax on foreign income

There's a consensus that the rich haven't been paying their fair share in taxes. One of few good things in the otherwise miserable Trump tax law of 2017 is a onetime tax on dividends made by shareholders in foreign companies. Before that tax was enacted, companies could dodge American taxes by parking their profits outside the country.

A couple in Washington state launched a bizarre court challenge against that tax after they had to pay taxes on their investments in India. They said the tax was unconstitutional under the Sixteenth Amendment. This is ridiculous because the Sixteenth Amendment specifically authorizes an income tax.

After losing in lower courts, they took it all the way to the Supreme Court. The Supremes have now ruled 7-2 against them. Right-wing Justices Neil Gorsuch and Clarence Thomas were the only dissenters.

The lawsuit was actually frivolous. I remember when the far right accused everyone of filing frivolous suits, but this is about as frivolous as it gets - with the exception of well-funded suits filed against state governments and schools by those claiming COVID restrictions weren't draconian enough.

Sports of all sorts

My latest Substack entry is a brief account of idiotic attempts to enforce mask mandates at school sporting events:

https://open.substack.com/pub/bandit73/p/sports-of-all-sorts

Schools and masks: a bad mix

I've been building up to this entry for months, and it's a long one. My latest Substack entry finally deals at length with the unparalleled evil of mask mandates in schools:

https://open.substack.com/pub/bandit73/p/schools-and-masks-a-bad-mix

It's against the law, revisited

I have a new Substack entry that's a brief look at politicians issuing COVID mandates in violation of state laws that explicitly banned them:

https://open.substack.com/pub/bandit73/p/its-against-the-law-revisited

More Reagan extremism

Forty years after the Reagan regime, we're still being forced to recap all the ways Rappin' Ronnie failed America and stole from workers.

He supported right-wing dictatorships abroad. He cut Social Security by raising the retirement age - a change that is now taking effect (which our "leaders" refuse to fix). And he added special new taxes on service workers who weren't making much money to begin with.

Most Americans who aren't in service jobs and don't have to rely on tips had thought that tips were not taxed. But it turns out they are. Donald Trump is making an issue of it, though I doubt he'll do anything about it if he wins - especially after his tax increase on the working class in 2017. But who started taxing tips in the first place?

I'll give you 3 guesses: Ronald Reagan, Ronald Reagan, and Ronald Reagan.

Reagan began taxing tips even as he began giving handouts to the rich.

Why does every city and town have some road or public landmark named for Reagan? He was the worst President in history not named Bush, yet historical negationists treat him as a god.

A person bubbled at New China Buffet

Today at New China Buffet, some woman bubbled.

Yip-yip-yip-yip-yip-yip-yip-yip, mum-mum-mum-mum-mum-mum, get a job!

My latest Substack entry is about how allegedly "progressive" lockdown advocates use extreme rhetoric that makes them sound like what they claim to oppose:

https://open.substack.com/pub/bandit73/p/yip-yip-yip-yip-yip-yip-yip-yip-mum

Philly mayor breaks agreement with homeless advocates

The worst big city mayor in America strikes again!

Back in 2020, the city of Philadelphia reached an agreement with advocates for the homeless that said a "village" of tiny homes would be constructed on a city-owned parcel. But - after taking office at the start of this year - Mayor Cherelle Parker decided to unilaterally scrap this agreement.

There is now a plan to build a drug treatment center there, but even the optics of this plan aren't as bad as the act of taking away the tiny homes that were promised. No plan has been put forth to build the homes elsewhere after Parker's right-wing dictatorship scrapped the original plan.

Have no fear, the June ish is here!

It's time for you to bury your beezer in the June ish of The Last Word!

This ish talks about my trip to St. Augustine, a waiter ruining some pancakes, a luxury development taking over a city-owned parking lot, more ruined board games, taking thorns to school to defend yourself, and more!

So point your pooper here...

https://www.scribd.com/document/737745512/The-Last-Word-6-2024

If that doesn't work, stink on over here...

http://bunkerblast.info/lastword/lw2406.pdf

A person beered at the parade

Today, I went to the parade, and an Allowed Cloud got hilariously violated.

As the parade was starting, a woman with 2 kids sat down in front of me on the curb. At first, I thought the woman was someone who went to my high school for precisely one day, but I don't think it was her. Before long, the woman whipped out a can of ice cold brew and proceeded to imbibe - in violation of alcohol ordinances.

She was cool!

But, surprisingly, nobody bubbled at the parade.

Big Pharma back to supporting GOP fascism

Which fascism will the corporate empire support today? Democratic fascism or Republican fascism?

A good rule of thumb is that they'll favor whichever party gets the fewest votes per newspaper endorsement. This means they supported Republicans through most of modern history, but began favoring Democrats when the underpants laptoppers took over that party. Whatever the weather, Democrats and Republicans exhibit largely the same fascism these days. Gavin Newsom and Nikki Haley would be the media's dream ticket.

Now there are plans for an expansion of the Republican Party of Kentucky's headquarters in Frankfort. The biggest donor was pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, which gave $1 million to the GOP for this project, which includes a new 6,800-square-foot building that will contain an auditorium. The project got funds from defense contractors too. Other big donors include AT&T, Verizon, Metropolitan Life Insurance, Microsoft, Comcast, and Delta Air Lines. It reads like a who's who of corporate tyranny. It also reams a bazooka hole through the idea that big corporations are progressive bastions. Of course, with the Democrats being what they are these days, donating to the Democrats would have indicated the same thing.

These donations are made possible by a 2017 state law allowing corporations to donate unlimited money to political parties' building funds. Whose dumb idea was that? What gnawing need was there for this law in 2017?

This is one of many stories showing why we need to prohibit corporations from giving to political parties. Corporations are a corrupting influence on politics.

Hindsight is 2024

My newest Substack entry is about ongoing COVID totalitarianism that continues even today and is slated to continue in coming months...

https://open.substack.com/pub/bandit73/p/hindsight-is-2024

Don't stop believin' in celebrity look-alikes

For most of the week, I was on vacation in St. Augustine. I plan to write about much of it in The Last Word, but there were 3 celebrity look-alikes: Anne Bloom, Gordon Ramsay, and Steve Perry.

Cut a fart at Kroger...again!

Today at the Krogie-Wogie in Bellevue, an elderly woman cracked an LAP bunker blast in the orange juice aisle.

Did Oscar say a bad word? ('Sesame Street' Wednesday)

Oscar the Grouch was my favorite character on the ol' Ses!

As summer travel season looms, you may have an experience like the 'Sesame Street' kick-ass crew did in a 1990 episode. In this installment, Gordon misses the bus to a basketball game and asks the ol' Osk and his girlfriend Grundgetta to drive him there...

But did Oscar say a bad word?

There was an episode of 'The Brady Bunch' in which Mike famously declares, "It's 6:00 in the morning," but there was clearly a word edited out just before "morning." It's pretty obvious he said a bad word. Something similar happens in this 'Sesame Street' episode. At 1:05, Oscar says to Gordon, "Just tell us how to get to the game and we'll be on our way." But there's a strange pause right before "game" - as if a word had to be edited out.

This kicks off a suspenseful narrative in which Oscar and Grundgetta take Gordon on a futile drive down Pothole Parkway - which makes the roads around here look like an Autobahn in comparison. It's really not even a road. It looks like it's just an alley between brick walls and buildings. It also requires a toll paid in old candy wrappers.

Spoiler alert! The delays cause Gordon to miss the whole game. He tries listening to it on Oscar's car radio, but the radio breaks just before the game's exciting conclusion. Sportscaster Marv Albert then appears out of nowhere and drives Gordon home.

Oscar the Grouch. A king among men!

Kathy Hochul makes racist comment

The dumbest governor in America (outside New Mexico) strikes again!

We already knew that New York Gov. Kathy Hochul isn't exactly a force for good in the world, and now the tragic Hochul saga gets even worse!

Yesterday, Hochul was speaking at a forum in California and began talking about "young Black kids growing up in the Bronx who don't even know what the word 'computer' is."

Elected officials from the Bronx rightly blasted Hochul for her racism.

This is Evan Mecham-level stuff. Forty years ago, an idiot like Hochul would have stood out for her stupidity. These days, hardly anyone notices. One reason is that the rest of America's political, corporate, and academic leadership provides real competition to see who can be the dumbest or most evil. Like Hochul, many manage to be both stupid and evil. Many are simply horrible people. Another reason people don't notice is that the media won't do their job like it used to, so stories like this aren't reported much.

Just resign already, Kathy.

Have no fear, the May ish is here!

May wouldn't be so biptacular if it didn't have the May ish of The Last Word!

Our latest edition talks about the shocking milk spills at Kroger, my failure to read books on required reading lists, my worst neighbors, Pepsi cans leaking onto magazines, a lost Bert and Ernie segment, and more!

So point your pooper here...

https://www.scribd.com/document/727402990/The-Last-Word-5-2024

If that doesn't work, waft on over here...

http://bunkerblast.info/lastword/lw2405.pdf

Gallagher look-alike sighted

I just received an important e-mail declaring that a Gallagher look-alike was seen at a local park today.

States keep violating Gun-Free School Zones Act

In the United States of America, you're supposed to be allowed to have a gun in your home. I'm also not against allowing concealed carry in most cases.

But new legislation in Iowa and Tennessee has raised questions about why schools are permitted to violate federal gun laws. These states are about to join several others in allowing teachers to carry guns in school - which has a real potential for not only accidents but also deliberate violence.

There's a federal law called the Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1990. This law was ruled unconstitutional not long after it passed, but it was rewritten to apply only to guns that had moved in interstate commerce - which happens to include almost all guns. The law says you can't have a gun in most situations within 1,000 feet of school property.

The law has a few exceptions, one of which is that this law is not supposed to apply in people's homes. Yet a woman was convicted for having a gun in her home, because it happened to be in a school zone. Unbelievably, another federal court later upheld this conviction. Federal authorities warned a New Hampshire town that hunters would be violating the law if they used the town's public hunting grounds, as part of it was within 1,000 feet of a school. The law is also broad enough that it's easy for people to violate it just by traveling with their gun in their car, even when it wouldn't otherwise be illegal.

In short, this law has been used to go after hunters and people who have guns at home. So why are states allowing guns in schools? Why are schools above the law?

This is selective enforcement at its worst. The heavy hand of this law comes down hard on those who seem to pose no threat. Yet authorities look the other way as guns are introduced in schools, which should be a refuge against violence. But even without all the guns, schools have become some of the most dangerous places, and it's because some schools have such dangerous administrators - who have a history of running roughshod over the well-being of our young people.

Why are people punished for guns in their own home while our schools are allowed to become a potential firing range?

Some North Vernon poo

To celebrate Monday's total solar eclipse, I went to North Vernon, Indiana. This outing brang us 27 Roads Scholaring photos, and you're gonna peep 'em all...

http://bunkerblast.info/roadpics/nvi24a.html
http://bunkerblast.info/roadpics/nvi24b.html

Nursing homes played with fire

My latest Substack entry is about how nursing homes burned COVID patients' belongings without giving loved ones a chance to retrieve them:

https://open.substack.com/pub/bandit73/p/nursing-homes-played-with-fire

A person bunkerooed at Circle K

People have been fartin' up a storm in stores lately.

Today at Circle K, I detected the audio of an LAP bunker blast.

COVID fascism didn’t take a vacation

My newest Substack entry is a very short account of some COVID tyranny that faced vacationers...

https://open.substack.com/pub/bandit73/p/covid-fascism-didnt-take-a-vacation

Faketivists

My latest Substack entry is brief, but it talks about how fake activists have been attacking real activists for not supporting COVID totalitarianism...

https://open.substack.com/pub/bandit73/p/faketivists

Have no fear, the April ish is here!

April wouldn't be April if it didn't have the April ish of The Last Word!

Our latest edition talks about the destroyment of Sunlite Pool, free association, a TV set found in the lake at NKU, the decline in quality of vinyl albums, and more!

So point your pooper here...

https://www.scribd.com/document/718297760/The-Last-Word-4-2024

If that doesn't work, slog on over here...

http://bunkerblast.info/lastword/lw2404.pdf

It fails to stink.

Legal tender becoming illegal tough at national parks

America's national parks are an amazing treasure. But lately, our rulers have tried making a mockery of the whole system. It's not limited to the Department of the Interior's scuttling of a successful contingency plan that had kept parks open during a government shitdown.

Recently, the National Park Service stopped accepting cash for entry fees at many of its parks - forcing people to use a credit card. This has prompted a lawsuit citing the fact that cash is to be considered legal tender.

The National Park Service's defense of the parks' cashless policies is incredibly dumb. They said it costs too much to "process" cash.

"Process" it? Cash doesn't need to be "processed" like credit cards do. Cash has been around since prehistoric times. Can you imagine cave people sitting around and "processing" money?

We're barreling harum-scarum into a social credit system, and the attempted phaseout of cash is one of the ways in which it is being facilitated.

Cash. Use it or lose it!

New York councilmember abused city e-mail to raise funds for CCP-linked org

According to the New York Daily News, a member of New York City Council abused city e-mail accounts to raise donations for a nonprofit tied to the Chinese government - run by the Chinese Communist Party.

Councilmember Susan Zhuang of Brooklyn - a right-wing Democrat - is under fire for these acts that appear to violate ethics laws.

The organization in question put together a parade in Brooklyn but also advocated for and worked with Chinese government entities. The donation request appeared in an e-mail last month from the official city council address of a Zhuang staffer. The nonprofit is also linked to a cohort of CCP-controlled groups outside China that aims to suppress criticism of the party and influence countries to enact pro-CCP policies.

Zhuang also recently helped organize an embarrassing far-right rally against a proposed homeless shelter.

Look under the toilet lid of any recent authoritarian trend in American public policy, and there's a good chance there's some link with the CCP. But there are usually more direct links with the CIA, which itself is CCP-linked. Major American media outlets are always happy to help them. The media supports authoritarian policies, and therefore, they support authoritarian regimes. The parent companies of top news organizations also have major interests in China like amusement parks and other investments. This is also why American movie studios censor their products to appease the Chinese government. Even the versions of movies distributed in the U.S. are edited like this.

And - you knew this was coming - this is also why the media praised China's COVID response but bashed Sweden's response. They continue to do it.

America and many other countries are becoming more and more like colonies of the Chinese Communist Party.